My trip to HaitiI had a week off
from my lectures in
America and decided
to go to Haiti -
partly to see the
American invasion to
liberate the country
from it's
dictatorship and
partly because my
house mate had
adopted a child from
Haiti and I wanted
to see where Mario
came from. After a
night in expensive
Hotel Olafson
costing me $60 - the
equivalent of a
year's income for
most natives - I
found one of the
poorest families in
the slum Cite Solei
and gave it $60 a
night to live with
them.
While I stayed with
the family among tin
roof shacks already
under water, the
hurricane Gordon
came along. For 3
days I was locked
inside with the
family with water
rising to the edge
of the bed which I
shared with 3 women
- one mentally ill
and chained to a
rock - while people
were dying all
around us. It was
so dark most days
that I could hardly
photograph with the
only 5,6 lens I had
brought with me
since in the rush
from NY I had not
been thinking about
photographing.
However, before the
hurricane I took a
two day trip trough
the countryside to
Jacmel and also was
invited to a couple
of parties among the
rich living in the
hills around
Port-Au-Prince and
had never themselves
seen the slums in
Cite Solei below
them.